


The Sultan's Boy

by thisisthefamilybusiness



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harem, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Complicated Relationships, Concubine Will Graham, Concubines, Faux Middle East Culture, Ficlet, Forbidden Relationships, M/M, Master/Servant, References to Infidelity and Open Relationships, References to Underage, Sexual Slavery, Sultan Hannibal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-09
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-11 18:03:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1176190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisthefamilybusiness/pseuds/thisisthefamilybusiness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will remembers when they were children, how Hannibal had cupped his jaw and kissed his cheek and promised him that one day they would be wed, that he would make Will his Sultana, regardless of what convention stated.<br/>He knows now that Hannibal cannot wed him, because he is a concubine and Hannibal is the Sultan. Hannibal needs a wife with noble or royal blood to bear his children and manage the palace and domestic life for him when he is away, not a boy who had been trained nearly his entire life to be a perfect lover and nothing else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sultan's Boy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [luvkurai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/luvkurai/gifts), [helichrysum (fbarlolken)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fbarlolken/gifts).



> Written at an insane hour of the morning on my phone in reaction to the lovely sultan!Hannibal AU going on on [luvkurai's tumblr](http://luvkurai.tumblr.com/tagged/sultan-au). Also dedicated to her Ampersand Anon.

Will remembers when they were children, how Hannibal had cupped his jaw and kissed his cheek and promised him that one day they would be wed, that he would make Will his Sultana, regardless of what convention stated.

He knows now that Hannibal cannot wed him, because he is a concubine and Hannibal is the Sultan, and he is little more than a richly treated sex slave to royalty. Hannibal needs a wife with noble or royal blood to bear his children and manage the palace and domestic life for him when he is away, not a boy who had been trained nearly his entire life to be a perfect lover and nothing else.

He is aware that he can only ever spend his days kneeling at Hannibal's feet with the other concubines, walking the appropriate four paces behind Hannibal in public. He may be wrapped in the finest cloth and jewels and beads of all the concubines, he may have his own private room in the harem, he may even be the only concubine Hannibal truly lies with, but he will never walk beside Hannibal as an equal, he will never sit next to him in a throne, and he will never be Hannibal's bride.

Hannibal can lavish him with gifts and surprises and affection, but he cannot give Will noble blood or the ability to bear him heirs. Hannibal can make love to Will, he can murmur how much he cares for him into Will's skin and whisper that he loves him in the dark of night, but he cannot marry Will, nor can he make Will his Sultana.

The other concubines can see how much Will cares for their Sultan, and for once they are not jealous of him and all that Hannibal gives him. They can see how Will aches to just step that short distance ahead and stand beside the Sultan when they are walking in procession, to cast off the jewels and the bells and the silks and wear simple wedding black instead, how Will spends his time in the harem simply impatiently waiting for nightfall so that Hannibal may send for him again.

Many a concubine has fallen for their master in classic romantic mistake, but none perhaps as hard as Will, who had loved their Sultan since he was a boy, and was suffering the even-worse misfortune of it being requited.

* * *

Hannibal waits until Will is asleep, head on Hannibal's chest and arms around his torso.

He runs his thumb gently over the thin skin near corner of Will's eye, smiling down at his beautiful boy in his gold and jewels, imagining for just a moment Will shrouded in finest silk dyed wedding black, as he had promised them both he would one day.

_I will keep you mine forever, Will. I will marry you and you will be my Sultana. I will buy you the most expensive things, whatever you want, and there will be a feast for days to celebrate our marriage. I'll give you the most beautiful wedding anyone has ever seen in the world._

But they had gotten older, and with the years and Hannibal's ascension to power, they had both realised the truth: Will, no matter how much Hannibal cared for him, could never be more than just another one of Hannibal's concubines. A beloved, spoiled concubine, of course, but always just a concubine.

Hannibal kisses the top of Will's head gently and inhales sharply, taking in the smell of Somali roses and spices, the faint undertones of vanilla and frangipani.

He imagines Will in his rooms getting ready for their wedding, his excitement as he gets dressed, draping himself in his black veils and the loops of pearls and silver chains underneath, courting gifts instead of presents for a particularly cherished concubine.

The same shaky unsteadiness with which Will sometimes spoke when he was nervous while Will recites his wedding vows, smiling at Hannibal: _I offer myself in honesty and sincerity to be to you a faithful, obedient, and good bride._

"I pledge in honesty and sincerity to be to you a faithful and good husband," Hannibal murmurs in reply to his imagined Will, kissing the crown of the real Will's head again.

He slides his hand down the smoothness of Will's back and curls their fingers together. It is in these quiet moments, when Will is still and pliant in his arms, that Hannibal regrets his promises the most, that he promised Will the world when all he can ever give him are occasional gifts and nighttime visits.

For all of Hannibal's power, all of his wealth, all the affection he has for his boy, he could never fix what fate made broken.

**Author's Note:**

> Clearly neither Hannibal nor Will are actually Middle Eastern and the culture I describe is as loosely based on genuine historical culture as it is possible to get, but there you are, nonetheless.


End file.
